From the company: “We believe that some of the best moments in life are spent around the table with the ones you love. In these crazy, dizzy, over-scheduled days, we want to bring people back together. Our goal at Birch Benders is to make the world a more beautiful and delicious place, one pancake at a time.”

KosherEye thinks that Birch Benders is simply a luscious choice, especially for the hurried family. A healthy breakfast, snack, or dessert can be whipped up in a flash; even the kids can help. The recipe is easy and quick: add water to the pancake mix, stir, pour into the pre-heated fry pan, and the pancakes are ready. We tried them plain, and alternatively topped them with berries, pecans and a bit of whipped cream. We enjoyed every bite.

Birch Benders products are available at supermarkets or can be ordered online.

Two of our favorite Birch Benders varieties are Classic and Six Grain Cinnamon. Both offer taste, quality and convenience. Scoop the desired amount of mix into a bowl, add water, combine with a fork, and put into the fry pan or waffle maker. Guests will never know that these are not from scratch. Delicious! By the way, the child tasters loved the chocolate chip variety!

Want to make your kitchen life a bit easier at busy times? (Ok, yes we do know that busy times are actually most times in the average households!)

These sauce mixes are so convenient for those meals that you want to prepare a "semi-homemade" recipe. Combine the sauce packet with the suggested ingredients on the label, and your dish is done. . .

Varieties include Pasta Alfredo sauce, Spicy Taco, Garlic seasoning mix for vegetables, Fajita, Sesame Ginger and many more. And yes, they are all organic and KSA kosher certified. The mixes are widely available in supermarkets such as Whole Foods. Learn more about the company and enjoy some recipes at Frontiercoop.com. We applaud Simply Organics for donating 1% of Sales for the restoration of environmental communities and natural habits worldwide.

Yes these taste like they were homemade! That is about the best compliment a food – especially a baked good can be given. The pastries from Irene's tastes just like we made them ourselves, with a lot less work.

Irene's Bakery used to be a "Mom and Pop" shop - serving Jewish style foods to local deli and convenience stores in Pennsylvania. In 2002, Irene's Bakery was bought by a young couple, Irina and Daniel Zelikovich, who expanded the business and re-invented the company. Its reach is now nationwide. Irene's is an all-natural food manufacturer, serving food retailers like Whole Foods Market, Wegmans, King's, Shop Rite's and local supermarkets such as Acme and Giant. All of Irene's baked goods are kosher certified Star K (parve), or Star D (dairy).

The pastries are based on traditional heirloom Jewish bakery recipes, but are made with organic unbleached flours, and sweetened with organic evaporated cane Juice. There are no food additives, colors, hydrogenated oils, or food preservatives in Irene's products. In addition to baked goods, the company sells blintzes, knishes, vegetable puffs and more, but we will cover those another time.

Some of our favorites from Irene's Bakery:Biscotti We found these at our local Whole Foods Market20 calories each – Most are fat and sodium free. What a calorie bargain and you would never know it by tasting. These are crunchy, just sweet enough and perfect with morning coffee. They are available in several delicious flavors including Pistachio Vanilla, Raisin Almond, Cranberry, Chocolate Almond, Coffee Amaretto. Star K ParveSo which were our favorites? We especially enjoyed the Pistachio Vanilla and Cranberry, but our other tasters had different favorites. All were enjoyed.

Apricot and Raspberry tarts – resembles our favorite linzer cookies. They are rich, buttery cookies topped with sweet apricot or raspberry jam. Superb in taste and crumb. Irene's also makes apricot and raspberry "puffs" that are very similar to the tarts, but with a different crust. Yumm. Star D Dairy

Rugelach – So luscious, we could hardly stop ourselves from eating the entire package. These taste like the ones from our kitchen, but Irene's bakes more flavors than we do -- and buying Irene's rugelach certainly offers a sweet convenience for the busy cook. Walnut Raisin, Raspberry, Chocolate and Cinnamon. Our favorite? Couldn't choose one- we liked them all. Star D Dairy

We at KosherEye often make our own cookies – particularly when we need parve (dairy free) cookies. Yes, there are some excellent dairy cookies available at the supermarket, but parve is another story. And then came Nomoo-dairy free.

This is a new brand, headquartered in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and OU certified. When the cookies arrived at our door, we did not know what to expect, and were wowed by the beautiful box and wrap. We checked the ingredients and were pleasantly surprised with the lack of additives – no preservatives, chemicals, transfats or artificial flavors or colors. Best of all Nomoo seems to use many of the same ingredients that we do – including King Arthur Flour and Earth Balance margarine. Impressive! And, yes we found them quite delicious. Our favorites: Oat-Rageous, Choco-Lift and of course, The Big Chipper. We ate most of them, and then, were able to freeze the rest. Works perfectly!

This is a sweet gift for your Yom Tov host or just to treat yourself. At the Nomoo website you will find a variety cookie combinations at $19.95 a dozen, plus shipping. If you really want to have some cookie fun, you can join the monthly, quarterly or yearly Nomoo cookie club.Visit: Nomoocookies.com

]]>ContactUs@KosherEye.com (Allan Noeditor Scher)KosherEye Featured ProductSun, 07 Sep 2014 19:34:44 +0000Wickles Pickles http://forum.koshereye.com/koshereye-kosher-product-of-the-week/3315-wickles-pickles-.html
http://forum.koshereye.com/koshereye-kosher-product-of-the-week/3315-wickles-pickles-.htmlMention "pickles" and everyone has an opinion on their favorite type. There are dill, kosher dill, sour, half sour, sweet, bread and butter...and there are Wickles Pickles!The pickle itself has a long and interesting history. Did you know that the Ancient Mesopotamians were thought to have made the first pickle in 2400 B.C....and Cleopatra claimed pickles made her beautiful. We have to thank Christopher Columbus for bringing the pickle to the New World. An interesting pickle fact: The Department of Agriculture estimates that the average American eats more than 8.5 pounds of pickles a year. We highly recommend Wickles Pickles be part of your 8.5 pounds!

Wickles has introduced two new products recently- and they are hot!

Wickles Wicked Pickle ChipsSandwich and snack chipsDelicious for those who love a little bite in their picklesWickles describes: A little bit sweet and a little bit spicy—fresh chips to go with everything nicely

Founded in 1989 by CEO Jack Barsoumian, Amoretti® is based in Oxnard, California (USA). A family business of Armenian heritage, its marketing president is Jack's wife Maral, and its manufacturing president is his brother Ara. Amoretti® is constantly expanding, and now offers nearly 2,000 pastry, savory, and beverage Ingredients .

Amoretti premium pomegranate balsamic vinaigrette is a rich and aged vinaigrette, made with premium organic extra virgin olive oil, and infused with the flavor and aroma of kalamata olives, then balanced with aged pomegranate. The taste is sweet and tangy. It is lovely for drizzling, dipping, or finishing a favorite dish. Use it to dress vegetables and salads, or to marinate meats, poultry or fish (we like it on salmon). By the way, this balsamic vinaigrette is one of the few kosher balsamic vinaigrettes on the market. http://www.amoretti.com

In 1957 Nathan Silver began experimenting with dry-rub seasonings and crusting techniques at his legendary Chicago restaurant, Al Farber's. Now almost 57 years later, his family's seasonings known as Char Crust® are famous for their signature rub Char Crust® . The rubs are popular in both restaurant and home kitchens throughout the USA and Canada.

All 10 Char Crust® flavors are certified kosher by the CRC, and are used to enhance dishes such as beef, poultry, fish and more. They are easy to use-- Simply dredge and rub the blends onto the surface of uncooked meat or fish, then broil, bake, grill, pan-sear, or roast.

• Original Hickory Grilled is the original restaurant secret from Al Farber's in Chicago. It is a blend of 14 herbs, spices and other natural ingredients that create a delicious charred crust, especially on steaks and meaty fish such as tuna and salmon.

• Roasted Garlic Peppercorn features the robust flavor of roasted garlic and onions with the zing of peppercorns and a hint of Worcestershire and lavender. Very versatile.

• Ginger Teriyaki is a balance of sweet teriyaki, fragrant ginger, plus a tingly touch of wasabi that lends a new dimension and creates a modern teriyaki interpretation. It complements chicken, fish, and steak.

• Hickory & Molasses creates a crust with a hint of dark, earthy molasses. It received recognition as one of the "Top-Ten Dry Rubs & Seasonings" from the National Barbecue Association.

• Smoky Spicy Southwest is a zesty blend of smoky ancho and chipotle chili peppers, mixed with cilantro and other southwest spices. This rub placed third among 200 entries in the National Barbecue Association contest.

Pasta Chips are made with semolina flour and Italian herbs. The chips are inspired by Tuscan flavors and seasonings based on regional Italian favorites. Jerry Bello, the company founder is passionate about sharing classic Italian flavors and culture through his pasta chips. We like these chips as a base for an Italian quiche – such as one made with cheese and peppers. We used the garlic olive oil pasta chips to crunch atop a Caesar Salad, and tried the Mediterranean Sea salt alongside a spinach dip. We are looking forward to trying the Alfredo chips as a dipper for a kosher faux crab dip.

Washing and checking lettuce-FEH! It is a necessary, but time consuming and sometimes less than pleasant.

Therefore... our delight when we discovered PodPonics. What a convenience for the kosher shopper and, for that matter, for anyone who wants clean, locally grown, ready to eat lettuce.

PodPonics utilizes a proprietary system that integrates advanced hydroponics, proprietary lighting, irrigation and nutrient technology with process control. Their growing system eliminates pesticides, reduces cost, and improves product quality. The benefits of the approach include providing a healthy, natural product grown in a controlled environment at or near the point of consumption.

The line is packaged in a 5-ounce clamshell container, and currently available in two mix varieties: Green Mix with green romaine and green lollo, and Encore Mix with green romaine, green lollo and red lollo. 10-ounce packages of each variety are also available. Consumers can expect to see additional Lettuce Buy Local mixes debut throughout 2014.

For more information, or to inquire when this lettuce will be available in your area, visit PodPonics.com by clicking the PodPonics logo: Podponic lettuce is is currently available at stores including select Whole Foods, Fresh Market and Kroger

]]>ContactUs@KosherEye.com (Allan Scher)KosherEye Featured ProductMon, 19 May 2014 17:38:56 +0000Jeff's Sodashttp://forum.koshereye.com/koshereye-kosher-product-of-the-week/3166-jeffs-sodas.html
http://forum.koshereye.com/koshereye-kosher-product-of-the-week/3166-jeffs-sodas.html Jeff's Sodas"Get Creamed!""You scream, I scream, we all want an egg cream"Those who grew up in NYC have egg cream memories. The Egg Cream is a nostalgic symbol from days gone by, and Jeff's Sodas is hoping to make the egg cream a part of future memories.

Despite its name, the egg cream contains neither eggs nor cream. In the beginning, it was a soda produced almost exclusively in New York, specifically Brooklyn.

As Jeff's Sodas explains "Legend has it that the first product that could be described as an egg cream was developed during the early 1890's by Louis Auster, a Jewish immigrant who owned a candy store in Brooklyn. Later, around 1920, Moisha Zambrowsky, owner of Moisha's Luncheonette on the Lower East Side of Manhattan dispensed the product from his fountain." Over the next few decades, especially in the NY area, soda fountains were popularized in luncheonettes and candy stores, and one of their premiere products was the popular egg cream. However, traditional fountain service began to disappear in the 1970s and 80s, and with that trend the ubiquitous egg cream waned. But, Egg Cream America, Inc. - manufacturer of Jeff's Sodas, has now reinvented the egg cream tradition. It is a bottled, dairy based carbonated beverage, Kosher Certified OU-D.

We got creamed by Jeff's! So convenient, ready to drink, just chill and serve.

Orange Dream: This one tastes like the Good Humor Creamsicle ice cream bar of our memory, sweet, tart, rich, creamy.

Vanilla Soda: We enjoyed the rich, deep vanilla flavor

Chocolate Soda: The one that tastes the most like the egg creams of our beloved Bronx, when we visited the corner luncheonette.